Up Front by Emma Hart

Read Post

Up Front: The Up Front Guide – How to Make a Stupid Law

137 Responses

First ←Older Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 Newer→ Last

  • giovanni tiso,

    But State Services Minister Tony Ryall said the investigations would "generate an additional form of remuneration pressure that is unaffordable in the current economic and fiscal environment".

    Elections are an expensive business. As a cost cutting measure in these difficult times, I suggest next time we don't let women vote. Think of the savings!

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie,

    The Donkey of Thesis Completion.

    Hope you were able to finish the thing without busting your ass.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Jolisa,

    Y'know, funny thing is, when we drove out of town after my defense, my ass was nowhere to be seen !

    Probably galloping off into the sunset in a freelance, unhybrid (good point, there) sort of way.

    Auckland, NZ • Since Nov 2006 • 1472 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Chortle.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    And where are the similar calls for business investors to forego hefty dividend payouts, and senior managers to show pay restraint?

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Lucy Stewart,

    Is the 'how to make a stupid law' thread an appropriate place to have a very peeved moment about the axing of the pay equity inquiries? Well, even if it isn't, let me have the moment anyway, or I might implode in my cubicle:

    GAH! BAH! MEH! ARGH!

    Those smarmy gits. Shorter Tony Ryall: 'Hey women - fuck you!'

    Since when have they been interested in pay equity for *anyone*, really? But it does feel like a bit of a slap in the face.

    Or, you know, a punch. With knuckledusters.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    Is the 'how to make a stupid law' thread an appropriate place to have a very peeved moment about the axing of the pay equity inquiries?

    Gah. I'd love to see a figure for how much that actually saved them, so we can note how many times over they spend it in the next couple of weeks.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Andrew Stevenson,

    Gah. I'd love to see a figure for how much that actually saved them, so we can note how many times over they spend it in the next couple of weeks.

    It also will tell us how much discrimination is worth to the economy. Should we be expecting to see the same argument applied in other areas like health, benefits etc?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 206 posts Report Reply

  • Ian MacKay,

    Is Madison real? Looks very much like a computer generated fantasy to me.
    It is strange how to "Make a Stupid law" resonates. When put up against how Collins, Ryall, Key, Sainsbury, have so far handled issues like boy racers, parole, sentencing makes me think that they are working from Emma's very true script. Does Emma collect a bonus for each "issue" that follows her plan?

    Bleheim • Since Nov 2006 • 498 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    Does Emma collect a bonus for each "issue" that follows her plan?

    I really need no further appreciation than the knowledge that the next time you hear someone trundling this stuff out, you think of me. OTOH, we could make a drinking game.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Andrew Stevenson,

    I'm already driven to drink by this sh*t

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 206 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    Does Emma collect a bonus for each "issue" that follows her plan?

    Yet another case of life imitating blogging.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Gareth Ward,

    I saw years ago in a book or magazine this kitchen that looked like a library full of old leather-bound books. Strange combination, I thought, since that's where you cook and get stuff all greasy. But it got worse: it turns out they weren't actual books. They were just spines from old books from libraries (public and private) in Eastern Europe that had to sell all their books, and people in the States started buying them as decorative objects, sometimes - as in this case - ripping the books themselves apart (the shelves in this kitchen were fake, they had no depth, if you know what I mean.)

    I visited some distant step-relation-in-laws in the UK and January - and they had done EXACTLY this. In a brand-new home. Themselves.
    If you walked down a corridor there was what seemed a bookshelf at the end, stacked with a variety of modern classics. But on closer inspection they were only 5cm or so deep. Each had been bought and cut individually by the owner, with some on wonky angles and all at different depths for that realistic feeling. By using one particular book as a handle you opened two doors into the kitchen. The other side of those doors were panelled like the other kitchen cabinets - so it was a double-sided secret door!

    Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report Reply

  • Michael Stevens,

    Great piece Emma

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 230 posts Report Reply

  • Bart Janssen,

    as a totem: The Donkey of Thesis Completion

    We used to sacrifice to Barbie to get difficult PCRs to work

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    Not only did some Dozy Wellingtonians buy trains that were too big for the tunnels

    It's more that the original constructors of the railway built tunnels that were too small for any reasonable modern train, and that past governments baulked on spending the dollars to rebuild said tunnels.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Jo S,

    We used to sacrifice to Barbie to get difficult PCRs to work

    When I was doing my masters we had moved on to making sacrifice to a fluorescent green plastic alien to make the PCRs work.
    I wonder if there's a statement in there about the culture change ...

    is it autumn yet? • Since May 2007 • 80 posts Report Reply

  • Lucy Stewart,

    OTOH, we could make a drinking game.

    It would dull the pain, which always helps.

    When I was doing my masters we had moved on to making sacrifice to a fluorescent green plastic alien to make the PCRs work.
    I wonder if there's a statement in there about the culture change ...

    Now if only someone had told me about the correct sacrificial process before the last three months of PCRs and gels, that would have been really helpful. As it was, I mostly resorted to scowling at the DNA samples to try and make them behave.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report Reply

  • Gareth Ward,

    I mostly resorted to scowling at the DNA samples to try and make them behave.

    Funily enough this is exactly how Simon Powers intends to bring the crime rate down with his new DNA seizure laws...

    Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    Which is all very well until they start enforcing the relevant section of the urban livestock law. Unless we can spin the donkeys as a fleet of low-emission hybrid vehicles?

    Maybe you could take a leaf out of the owners of the Madison house and skin it and put it on the floor.

    I particularly liked the image in the photo tour of the real Zebra skin rug on the floor, next to the fake leopard skin couch. That's deep art man.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Amy Gale,

    I've never seen the disembodied book spine thing, but I have heard of people turning up to Ithaca's Friends of the Library Book Sale with fabric swatches.

    Is there any interpretation of this that doesn't spell doom for humanity? Answers on a postcard. The best I can do is "I'm definitely getting one of their five hundred copies[*] of The Elements of Style, but ideally in an edition that won't clash with the couch".


    [*] I may be exaggerating, but only slightly.

    tha Ith • Since May 2007 • 471 posts Report Reply

  • Jo S,

    Now if only someone had told me about the correct sacrificial process before the last three months of PCRs and gels, that would have been really helpful. As it was, I mostly resorted to scowling at the DNA samples to try and make them behave.

    The PCR gods are fickle and demand sacrifice.
    Apparantly summer students please them most but it can be difficult to explain to the graduate centre.

    is it autumn yet? • Since May 2007 • 80 posts Report Reply

  • Lucy Stewart,

    Funily enough this is exactly how Simon Powers intends to bring the crime rate down with his new DNA seizure laws...

    Two problems:

    1. It mostly didn't work.
    2. I was using this technique on samples from bumblebees, who are not known for their frequent appearance in police databases.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report Reply

  • Sayana,

    I'm just wondering if anyone would care about the destruction of books, if they were all the Readers' Digest Condensed Book books. These always look much more impressive than they actually are.


    Except the Mrs Pollifax series, which needed a healthy dose of 'abridging' anyway.

    Since Sep 2008 • 50 posts Report Reply

  • Lucy Stewart,

    Apparantly summer students please them most but it can be difficult to explain to the graduate centre.

    ...I was doing those PCRs as a summer research student. And I promise you I wouldn't have gone quietly.

    Although that does explain why all the thesis students seemed to be moving in packs.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report Reply

First ←Older Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 Newer→ Last

Post your response…

Please sign in using your Public Address credentials…

Login

You may also create an account or retrieve your password.